Declining mental performance: check your testosterone

London, Jan 15 (UNI) Testosterone is a hormone with quite a personality, often tainted as a cause of aggression and an insatiable sexual appetite.

Mental processes are not, however, considered as the powers of testosterone but new research suggests that testosterone levels may affect men's cognitive performance.

Testosterone levels decline with age, just when memory begins to slow. The study linked higher testosterone levels in midlife to better preservation of tissue in some parts of the brain. And in older men, higher testosterone levels have been associated with better performance on cognitive tests.

The research published in Harvard Men's Health Watch raised the question whether testosterone therapy might improve mental function in healthy older men, or even in those with cognitive impairment.

Past studies have reported subtle improvements on cognitive tests.

However, it has been stated that high testosterone levels may have harmful effects as well.

It also raised doubts that if higher testosterone levels were associated with better mental function, the treatments reducing testosterone might lead to cognitive decline.